The one thing I know for sure
My heart aches writing this, because for some reason putting it in writing makes it feel more real. This past Monday, my family and I laid to rest our insanely loved and adored family dog, Payton. Paytie was ridiculously sassy, an escape artist (we called her a little Houdini), a true foodie (this girl wouldn't eat her dog food unless it had filet mignon or some other expensive protein in it … and then she'd spit out the dog food), and absolutely loved to be pampered (she ran up to the humans at the dog parks and pawed at them to pet her, instead of playing with the other dogs).
She was one of my greatest blessings, and I thank God everyday for sending her to us. I know she will be watching over us, and that her memory will live on.
When I think of my memories with Payton, I'm reminded of how much she taught and reminded me about life. Animals have a way of putting things into perspective, don't they? I always think kids have that same effect.
Our pets pass on, and kids grow up, and we have to rely on our memories to go back in time.
One of the reasons this work is so important to me and close to my heart, is because of these memories we create everyday with ourselves and our loved ones. It's so easy in today's world to get caught up in “keeping up with the Joneses." There's always new things out there to be consumed and grab our attention. It's easy to focus on all the things we want (or don't have), or everything we need to get done (or still haven't done), or who we are (or aren't).
Our attention and energy is always go, go, go and our society often values objects over living breathing beings. It's easy to allocate all of our time to the hustle, and none to what matters most to us. We drown in clutter and noise, and forget to cherish and make time for the things that make our life so wonderful.
Life goes by so fast.
I want to soak up every second of it. I want to live my life in a way that when I do have to say goodbye to loved ones, or close a chapter in my journey, I can do so with peace and not regret.
I want and pray for the same for you, in this joyful, crazy, painful, ever-evolving human experience. If there's someone, or something, that you love that's been buried beneath the clutter, I hope you start to bring them back to front and center.
One thing I know for sure is this – you will never regret surrounding yourself with what you love most.
